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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “personal resume”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “personal resume”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Contributor Résumé and Insights shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms places #9 on merit, 4.4★ from 433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) 70K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4 WP Job Portal – AI-Powered Recruitment System for Company or Job Board website 8K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #15 10 too low 6 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too low 7 CartBounty – Save and recover abandoned carts for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #18 ↑4 10 too low 9 Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms 20K+ · 4.4★ (433) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 reGenerate Thumbnails Advanced 60K+ · 3.2★ (59) wp.org #10 ↑2 11 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #21 ↓1 10 too low 12 HM Resume Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 11 too high 13 File Uploads Addon for WooCommerce 4K+ · 3.7★ (27) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Advanced Timeline Block 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Logo Showcase with Logo Carousel, Logo Slider & Logo Grid 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too high 16 Contributor Résumé and Insights 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 13 too high 17 Rife Extensions & Templates for Elementor 20K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18 Auto Delete Applications – Add-on for HireZoot 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑1 12 too high 19 Cool Author Box – For Widget and Post Content 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 SurveyX Builder – Survey, Poll, Quiz & Feedback Form 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 too low 21 Portfolio Block – The Ultimate Project & Portfolio Builder 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑2 10 too high 22 Logicoo Form 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 SureDonation – Donation Forms, Fundraising Campaigns & Donor Management 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑8 10 too high 24 Thumbnail Manager 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.